Filling Space

This post is to physically separate the Bible verse
and the cussing that is to ensue.

Ha!
Note my eclectic nature!

Also, I pretty much got a
non-nannying
summer job today.
Rock on.

Remembered

Spider reminded me of a verse Joy and I wrote on a gift we gave him.



"Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another."
-- Philippians 2:1 (TEV)



Evidently, this is quite the slanted version of this verse, and it is quite different in other translations. (TEV isn't really a translation...) But I like this way best.

insights

the Z-pak is wonderful
I can breathe mostly

if I had no planner
I would be freer
because I would forget a lot of stuff

I am glad to have my car back
but there was something special about driving the minivan

the hunt for a future home and job is so on

girl scout cookies are delicious
i must start working out
perhaps MWF mornings

it is late and I am tired

rock on

oy with the poodles already!

so everytime i get sick
i wait a couple days
to see if it is just the sniffles
or if it will go away
and then
when i am completely miserable
i get a doctor's appointment
usually for the next day
when i get to the doctor
i am not congested
i am not coughing
my throat is barely sore
my nose is not running

i have an appointment in half an hour
i have been miserable for days
unable to sit through an entire class without
leaving to blow my nose
(ew, i know)
and now
i can mostly breathe

what the heck
at least i can ask for migraine medicine

Hymns I picked for folks to sing*

at my devotion for the prospective US-2s on Saturday morning:

Lord of the Dance
It's Me, It's Me (Standing in the Need of Prayer)
Freely, Freely
Everytime I Feel the Spirit
Here I am, Lord (obligatory service song)
Sanctuary (3 times, GC style)


* Yes, I am a hymn dork.
Yes, I have my own UMC hymnal.
with my name on it.
And I sometimes turn off the car radio
and sing hymns at the top of my lungs.

Adventures Abundant

What a week.
(and a half, really)
In bullet points.

ATL:
margarita bash
visit from my love
mucho Duke basketball
Church nursery
greek pre-bday dinner for 10

NYC:
1st class flight -- happy birthday to me!
ethiopian dinner, Altar Boyz
interfaith dialogue
St. Pauls by WTC
Grace Deli lunch
Islamic cultural center
Amateur Night at the Apollo
UN tour
dinner with aunt
St. Pat's drinks with Spider
US-2 interviews
devotion/"Beth gets to pick lots of hymns for folks to sing"
Union Square
H&M
taxis and subway
mucho walking

Return to the ATL:
2 flights
coach
migraine
no studying done
swimming dots before my eyes
willy's super taco
bed

mildly postponed:
OT test
CT essay
breathing

yesterday:
pjs all day
showered
back in pjs

today:
at some point my watch stopped running
and my nose started.
ew. (bet you didn't want to know that. me either!)
dinner = kick @$$ soup i made.

rock on.
busy.
tired.
Spring Break?
do you see a break?
adventures abundant indeed.

a birthday picture with US-2 girls 

Older

I am now in my late 20s.
At least I will be at 7:14am central time.

Happy Birthday to Me.
Rock on.

Faux-berry

you know when you love a band
forever
and then they get popular
and their music is crap?
or when your childhood hero
sells out and is on Surreal Life?
and you're just so disappointed
because it's like they let you down
by not maintaining their old standards...

well
here i am
eating a "strawberry" fruit rollup
that has not a bit of strawberry in it.
the main ingredient?
pears.
evidently pears are the new strawberries.

i ate the first one
and it tasted different
tangy-er.
i had noticed the familiar strawberry seeds missing
several boxes ago
but just let myself believe
that they got better blenders.
but with the tangy-ness
i checked the box
and no strawberries are in the rollup.

dismay. shock. horror. woe.
nostalgia for days of rollups with seeds
and appropriately labeled fruit...

4 pages to write

and I can't make myself do it.
I have read my friends' blogs.
I have checked and rechecked my email.
I went out to dinner.
I have played spider solitaire.
I printed out all my itineraries for my trip to NYC next week.
I watched the O.C.

Here's what I have to do:

type a page I already have written

skim 3 chapters on faith and health and write 2 simple pages

read another article

write a one page colloquy paper

Here's the ever-present question:
Does this really matter?
If I read these chapters about faith and health
and healing in the New Testament,
is that somehow going to help the guy I talked to
at The Carptenter's House last night
get medical attention without hours and days and lifetimes in the ER?
Is this going to give people choices,
real choices that are distinct and personal,
not "choices" limited by their social or economic status?
Is this going to help churches be more accessible for people with disabilities,
more willing to advocate for better healthcare for their members,
more able to address the needs for healing and wholeness
that seem to be engulfing people,
more willing to just stand beside people as they try to make sense
of their bodies shutting down or relearning daily tasks?

I hope the answer is yes, one day.
But we have not gotten to that point in the class
where we discuss practical application
of the terminology and models and charts and analysis.

Ah, back to work...

Some Lists

all lists are in no particular order, and are at least slightly ridiculous

Top 5 movies I'd rather watch right now than read about faith and health:
(limited to movies I own)
1. Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh version)
2. Shakespeare in Love
3. Legally Blonde
4. Empire Records
5. Son In Law

My 5 favorite desserts:
1. Rice Krispy Bars
2. Chocolate Chip Cookies (not pre-made store bought)
3. Cheesecake with Strawberries (no whipped cream!)
4. Haystacks
5. Strawberry Shortcake

Places I want to visit in the not too distant future:
(limited to places I've never been)
1. Italy
2. Greece
3. California
4. Australia
5. Hawaii
oooh, there are so many more...

Furniture I personally own:
(though I only bought the bed and one bookshelf new)
1. Bed
2. Dresser and nightstand set
3. 2 bookshelves
4. 2 desks
5. Small couch

Top 5 ways I like chicken prepared:
(limited to white meat)
1. Chicken florentine, accompanied by pasta with light white sauce
2. Grilled, on kabobs or just seasoned
3. BBQ
4. in my mom's Wild Rice Soup
5. Fettucine Alfredo with Chicken, and frequently broccoli

ROBIN HAD HER BABY!!!!!

And I want to go meet her!

Although I am a random info sharer

(to unsuspecting friends, grocery cashiers, strangers...)
I was alarmed to notice
the quanity of personal information revealed
in the previous two posts.

And neither directly mentioned procrastinating.
However,
I am entirely certain I was putting off
doing something productive
when I wrote them.

Here are some possibilities:
1. doing the dishes
2. going to bed
3. reading theology
4. reading the Hebrew Bible
5. eating, which really means preparing food
6. taking out the trash and recycling
7. getting dressed
8. taking a shower
9. reading theology
10. straightening up my piles of stuff everywhere

I double mentioned
reading theology
because I consciously avoid that
more than anything else.
Funny that it's what I'm
paying thousands of dollars to study...

Ending the bedtime procrastination
for tonight
(though I did put off reading this afternoon
by taking a 3 hour nap).

So, I just looked at deadmule.com, and felt inspired to claim my dual citizenship

Why I could be a Southerner:
I watched “Glory” every year in high school history.

I’ve lived in 4 Southern states (SC, NC, FL, GA), which is four times the number of Midwestern states (MN).

I love porch swings. And rocking chairs. And a cool breeze on a late summer evening, visiting outside with friends. And ceiling fans. Anything that moves the air in the summertime.

I can distinguish between the three types of Carolina Barbeque, and yellow sauce kicks the sorry @$$es of ketchup-based and vinegar-based.

I left the parking lot of my high school graduation and drove four hours for a week at Myrtle Beach, complete with hours at the Pavilion and friends hauled off to jail.

My best friends include a jailer and a high school teacher.

I spent many a summer day so sweaty I didn’t care anymore.

I might not eat grits or okra, but I love me some bbq.

My summer time delicacy is a tomato sandwich: freshly picked, still warm from the sun tomatoes, wonder bread and mayo.

Cheerwine. Dear god, that stuff is good!


Why I’m still a Minnesotan at heart:
I was born in St. Cloud, and spent the first ten years of my life in little farm towns.

I know the proper response when someone asks if you want to “go with.”

I love cheese. And nearly all dairy products.

The Twins will always be my favorite baseball team. I waved my homer hankie during the ’87 and ’91 World Series, and cheered for Kirrrrrrrby Pucket, Kent Hrbek and Bert Blylevin. But my favorite play was Dan Gladden stealing home, or when he hit a grand slam.

I’m 3/8 Swedish, which is not bad. And my parents tried to make me dress up as St. Lucia and serve them breakfast in bed.

I remember eating krumkaka at Christmas, and I know what lutefisk and lefse are.

Snow forts and ice skating filled almost half the months of my childhood.

I’ve gotten used to overcooked vegetables, but I still prefer my green beans crunchy.

They are Rice Krispy “BARS” – not treats!

I still miss twilight and northern lights, even after 17 years in the South.

It's Late. 1:48am. Which I guess is early.

When you really think about it.
I think this will be long and weird.

I have told a few people lately
and some people from before now
already knew this or some part of it.

I have holocaust-type dreams.
That's the only way I can categorize them.
I read Eli Weisel's Night in college
and it's like the rounding up for the ghettos.
And maybe it comes from the memory of that book.
Or maybe it comes from hearing the stories
of my college friends from Kosovo
who were forced from their homes
and had to run or made it to refugee camps.
Maybe from all those books I read as a kid
about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
Or maybe just from my overwhelming desire
to help.

Here's how it goes:
There are bad guys coming to get us --
an "us" that includes me and some group
definitely with children.
And I have to direct, lead, help
people to hide.
I am not usually personally at danger
except for the aiding of those who are.
And I never get it right.

So I already knew I wanted to save the world.
I've been having these dreams for years
since college for sure.
But I knew when I was little that I would do something
some job that would help people
have better lives.
And I did for a while in Tallahassee --
at least I tried.
I helped people find jobs and homes
and get their kids in school
and set goals for the first time.
But I had no training.

So now I'm in school
and I'm learning about
theology and church history and connections between faith and health
and I go to Contextual Education for 4 hours a week
and it is cool and all
but I don't feel like I really do anything.
Most of the time I am okay with it
because I know this is a time of preparation
a time to be still and learn and grow
to get ready for when I can do that stuff I want to do again.

But every so often
I feel restless and tired of reading.
Because despite my english degree
I do not love reading the stuff we have to read
and it is really hard to make myself do it.
I would much rather be at some agency
talking to someone about who they are and what they want to do
and trying to help them figure out how that can happen.

Many of my friends here are very academic
and I just never was.
I have said before
and it is still true that
I like the academic/school environment
and I like going to class
discussing issues
learning and gaining new perspective
but I don't really like being a student.

One day, I think I'll be
the old lady who audits random courses
at the local university.
I'll probably also be the old lady
who wears bright colors
and funny glasses
and talks a little too loud
and likes to take people to lunch.

That is,
after we save the world.

Of Varying Importance

Here is a list of things:

1. "The first canon cast or wrought of bronze tended to come apart upon firing, which of course made their use somewhat exciting for all involved. Carved stone cannon balls whose rough edges might catch in the barrel were equally problematic to the cannoneer, who, given his primitive working conditions, was exhorted to fear, honor, and love God more than any other soldier."
-- Carter Lindberg, The European Reformations, p. 38-39


2. I figured out how to print pictures from my computer.


3. a poem by Richard Brautigan:

Xerox Candy Bar

Ah,
you're just a copy
of all the candy bars
I've ever eaten.


4. My hair is frightfully curly today.
Perhaps the weather?


5. Christian Thought test tomorrow = more posts tonight!


6. In London, there are poems on the tube
where ads might be.
There is a compilation book called "Poems on the Underground."
This is from the parody book, "Poems Not on the Underground."

Hamlet at Kennington

Tube, or not Tube: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The stinks and elbows of obnoxious passengers,
Or to take refuge in your walkman,
And by ignoring end them? To die: to nod off:
No more; and, by nodding off to say we end
The bone-ache, the delays, the thousand disturbances
The Underground is heir to, 'tis an escape
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to have a kip;
To sleep; perchance to miss our stop: ay, there's the rub.


7. I have a lot to read.
Studying is hard.


8. "The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves but in our attitude towards them."
-- Antoine de Saint Exupery

Lent

So, every year I try to give up cussing for Lent.
It has never worked.
I am no good at not cussing.

In college,
I tried every year to give up
cussing and Coca Cola.
That certainly never worked.

It turns out I am addicted
to caffeine and bad words.

My one Lenten success story
was last year:
I gave up Walmart.

I'd give up Walmart again this year
but I don't even know where one is
to give up.

I am trying to say "foo" instead of bad words.

Technology, Fluid, Employment

I got my computer back!

My car needed about a bucket of
transmission fluid.
But no more jumping.

Job flux.
Who knows?

Tonight's methods of procrastination:

1. Going to Kroger to buy manwich sauce.
2. Making manwiches.
3. Eating manwiches on the couch while watching the O.C.
4. Email... obviously.
5. Calling CompUSA to check on my computer (sadly, after business hours)
6. Contemplating my current and possible employment situations in a cost-benefit analysis.
7. Um, blogging.
And the strangest to put into words:
8. Separating the 6 pounds of ground beef I bought into 6 ziploc baggies for easy freezing and defrosting.

I do have real things to do,
including 2 outlines and 2 papers for tomorrow's colloquy.
Hope I get around to them...
Rock on.

What I need is...

A whirlwind of productivity!
So much to do!

I have books -- yes plural
to read,
papers to write.
And a personal project to complete.

I am not really a good student.
Actually
I am really not a good student.

I need to gain a sense of
unclouded determination!
I must go work!
For hours on end!
I must accomplish my educational goals!
I must first set educational goals!
Focus.

Rock on.